EXCLUSIVE: 5 Tips To Protect Our Black Vote

1. Voter I.D. laws – In several states, voting laws have changed to require an state-issued piece of identification. Don’t be fooled. All you need is your social security number to vote and voter registration card. If your state has imposed this law, fill out an absentee ballot by registering a post office box.

2. Fake criminal records – Republicans learned that suggesting someone has a criminal record as he enters the voting booth can fool a good person into thinking he’s a criminal. Felon rolls vary in accuracy from state to state, but having your social security number ready will avoid any confusion between James Johnson the Felon and Jim Johnson the hard-working taxpayer

3. The Name Game – Voter registration cards should have your full name as it appears on your social security card. This way, no one can decline you the vote because you list a name as Bob instead of Robert (a tactic being used in Florida).

4. Ballot Design – Thousands of Florida seniors voted for Pat Buchanan in 2000 because unclear labels put his name near to Al Gore’s. If you are confused about a choice, write in your vote or ask for another nearby polling station where you can see choices clearly.

Senator Barack Obama will have to strengthen his hold on majority black voting districts in order to secure the electoral college votes he needs to win. But the Republican party has found every way possible to tamper with legitimate votes and, true to double-talk form, use the phrases “voter fraud” and “disenfranchisement” to foment their agenda.

For an organization like ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has registered over 1.6 million voters, legal snags have defined their uphill battle against Republican operatives who accuse them of voter fraud when they try to target areas with Black residents. ACORN has been mired in conflict because of allegedly offering registrants money for their voter cards. The legal troubles notwithstanding, they are one of the interest groups making sure everyone’s right to vote is recognized. In Indiana in 2006, the Supreme Court overruled state law, mandating that voters should present I.D. to cast their ballots. The logic of the ruling is that absentee ballots and voters with false identification will disenfranchise legitimate voters by flooding the process. But there is no proof that absentee ballots have affected vote counts to the degree that conservative lawsuits claim.

Just as when the Jim Crow segregation laws altered the regulations for black voters on Election Day, the nation faces a distinct crisis in fairness. The Department of Justice, which should be responsible for monitoring the fairness of the voting process for minority groups, has been swayed by a number of conservative appointments during the Bush administration. The firings of several attorneys by the DOJ cued an inquiry into claims by those attorneys that party bias was the real cause for their termination.

Blacks in these swing states will be under pressure from prosecutors and Republicans who profess to be looking out for minority interests all while making it hard for them to vote. Tell you friends and neighbors that we will not be subject to modern Jim Crow tactics. Everyone with a clear criminal record and a social security identification confirming citizenship can vote. The election cycle can often become a maelstrom of confusion when it matters most. Informing friends and family members about their rights will help us to avoid these trumped up complications.